The Holy City of Godface : built by gods, ruled by gods, populated by gods.
Seventy minutes, the length of this play, may not seem like a long time to spend on stage, but for the five cast members of
GODFACE, it must have seemed like an eternity. Not only do they have to play many human characters, they must also bring a myriad of puppet characters to life. The four male actors who work the puppets have to embody several different animals – supplying the voices while controlling their entire body movements.
Emily McGowan, the only female performer, plays Pippa and stays as her character throughout the action. Whilst wandering in the desert she gets caught up with a group of half-human, half-animal beings and follows them back to their city called Godface where an election campaign to elect a new Prime Minister is under way. During the election campaign, she runs for office and engages with all of the animal characters.
Although the story is interesting, the telling of it by the puppets is the most engrossing part of the show.
David Molloy, Murray Lambert, Jesse Northam and Sam Flack embody the main animal puppets; namely a bull, a fox, a swan, a couple of goats and a fly, all of which are so humanlike that we come to accept them as actual people.
Director Scott Parker has brought us an innovative and unique theatre piece. Liam O’Keefe’s clever lighting uses the set, constructed entirely from cardboard packing cases and designed by Aleisa Jelbart, who also designed the puppets, to great advantage, taking us from a desertscape to a radio studio in a flash. The script portrays the animals at times hilariously and at other times menacingly.
At the conclusion of the show, the seventy minute non-stop action show was greeted by a well-deserved ovation.
With only a week left to run, I urge you to put this wonderful, unique show at the top of your “must see” list. To miss it would be a shame, as we may not see the likes of it again.
Matriark Theatre’s production of Robert den Engelsman’s and Murray Lambert’s GODFACE is playing the theatre inside the 107 Projects Arts Inc, Redfern until Sunday 10 July. The remaining performances are Sunday 3 July at 5pm, Wednesday 6 July to Friday 8 July at 7pm, Saturday 9 July at 2pm and 7pm, and Sunday 10 July at 5pm.